Grantland article: "Wisconsin: The Most Boring Team in America"

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Haha! Gotta love it.
 

Yes, it's boring. But you can't deny that it's effective. And I hate saying that.
 

Article has some truth in it

But Bo does more than just slow down the game. He teaches outstanding fundamentals and team defense. His recruits are also more athletic than given credit for, and are all smart kids who can typically shoot. His success is not solely attributable to style of play.

That said, the Gophers style is generally more fun to watch (when they run).
 

I'll go right for the throat-

I triple dog dare them to write an article like that about Kentucky.
 


"His resume in March has been a bit disappointing -- the Badgers have reached the Elite Eight just once, and they've lost in the first or second round in six of his ten years" I wish we could be disappointed by only making the Elite Eight and having our worst seasons be the 60% of the time that we "only" make the first or second round. This guys' beef is that Bo Ryan developed an effective, fundamental system, that he recruits players who match his system, and that his players are more interested in the team winning than personal glory? Lame article.
 

bleedsmaroonandgold said:
"His resume in March has been a bit disappointing -- the Badgers have reached the Elite Eight just once, and they've lost in the first or second round in six of his ten years" I wish we could be disappointed by only making the Elite Eight and having our worst seasons be the 60% of the time that we "only" make the first or second round. This guys' beef is that Bo Ryan developed an effective, fundamental system, that he recruits players who match his system, and that his players are more interested in the team winning than personal glory? Lame article.
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This guys beef is none of those things ... his beef is that it is ridiculously boring to watch. I would argue this year's Gophers are players recruited to match the system and are more interested in team winning and they are MUCH more fun to watch. It is the exact reason the college shot clock should be 30 seconds instead of 35.

And yes, for a team that is constantly ranked as high as they are those NCAA numbers are dissapointing.
 

The guy writing the article is certainly entitled to his opinion. He must not like winning either.

There is more then 1 way to skin a cat. If everyone played the same style, that would be boring.

As for the NCAA record, it would be nice if it was better but there are very few schools in the last ten years with a record equal to Ryan's at UW. Some schools would be happy to just have one second round appearance over the last ten years.
 




GVBadger said:
The guy writing the article is certainly entitled to his opinion. He must not like winning either.

There is more then 1 way to skin a cat. If everyone played the same style, that would be boring.

As for the NCAA record, it would be nice if it was better but there are very few schools in the last ten years with a record equal to Ryan's at UW. Some schools would be happy to just have one second round appearance over the last ten years.
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This is one thing I love about Badger fans ... They'll argue until blue in the face that their basketball program is up there with Duke, UCLA, Kentucky, and UNC. However, you bring up the fact of second round tourney appearances, and they argue that it's better than most programs (The Gophers). So which is it, are you Duke, UNC, Kentucky where anything less than the final four is a dissapointment or are you actually right here with MN where a second round exit is an accomplishment?
 

scher215 said:
This guys beef is none of those things ... his beef is that it is ridiculously boring to watch. I would argue this year's Gophers are players recruited to match the system and are more interested in team winning and they are MUCH more fun to watch. It is the exact reason the college shot clock should be 30 seconds instead of 35.

And yes, for a team that is constantly ranked as high as they are those NCAA numbers are dissapointing.
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Heck, I would take a 24 second shot clock. I have long since thought college teams had too much time to shoot, but if they are given 35 we can't be surprised when they take 35. I hope you are right about us being built to beat them and more interested in winning, because two late season wins against the hated Badgers would go a long way to getting us on the dance floor in March.
 

bleedsmaroonandgold said:
Heck, I would take a 24 second shot clock. I have long since thought college teams had too much time to shoot, but if they are given 35 we can't be surprised when they take 35. I hope you are right about us being built to beat them and more interested in winning, because two late season wins against the hated Badgers would go a long way to getting us on the dance floor in March.
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I don't know if the Gophers will win more or not, but that is at least what seem to be more interested in than their own personal glory. Hopefully that plays out well during the season.

I'd be fine with 24 seconds though too, I hate 35 seconds.
 




ShowinGoldyLove said:
Great article...actually a very interesting read.
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Given that Grantland has now taken both Tubby and Bo to task in recent articles, albeit for different reasons, I'll pose this impossible hypothetical (just for the sake of debate):

If you could, how many here in GH would trade Tubby for Bo straight up with the best interests of the program in mind?

I'm sure loyalists to both will opt for their guy, and given their respective, impressive records over time that's understandable. But looking to the future, and considering their record, coaching style, the teams' playing styles, ability to recruit and develop players etc, which guy would you rather have?
 

I would never trade Tubby for Bo, if for no other reason then I wouldn't enjoy watching Gopher games as much as I do right now. Bo's teams are never true contenders come tournament time, so far Tubby hasn't shown an ability to contend at Minnesota either. So I'd just assume take the coach that implements a more up tempo and fun to watch system. I have a lot of respect for Bo, so this isn't meant to bash him. I'm from Madison and ran the swing offense from 4th grade through high school, I have a lot of respect for it, it's just not that much fun to watch.
 

ghnewbie said:
Given that Grantland has now taken both Tubby and Bo to task in recent articles, albeit for different reasons, I'll pose this impossible hypothetical (just for the sake of debate):

If you could, how many here in GH would trade Tubby for Bo straight up with the best interests of the program in mind?

I'm sure loyalists to both will opt for their guy, and given their respective, impressive records over time that's understandable. But looking to the future, and considering their record, coaching style, the teams' playing styles, ability to recruit and develop players etc, which guy would you rather have?
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Give me Tubby every single day of the week. Everyone loves to exaggerate how wonderful WI and Bo Ryan is on here, and how awful MN and Tubby Smith are. In reality, the answer is likely somewhere in the middle and not a great enough disparity that I would trade.
 

If you could, how many here in GH would trade Tubby for Bo straight up with the best interests of the program in mind?
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Yuck.
 

Slightly less poorly written, but it rips the skunks so I approve. F*** those guys.
 

I don't watch as much as I used to. Do Ryan's team play the same tackle-football defense that Bennett's teams used to employ? I swear the Bennett's strategy was to have his guys absolutely hammer the opposition for the first ten minutes in an attempt to: (1) make simple fouls look ticky-tack by comparison for the rest of the game, and (2) simply wear out the officials and make them tired of blowing their whistles.
 

50PoundHead said:
I don't watch as much as I used to. Do Ryan's team play the same tackle-football defense that Bennett's teams used to employ? I swear the Bennett's strategy was to have his guys absolutely hammer the opposition for the first ten minutes in an attempt to: (1) make simple fouls look ticky-tack by comparison for the rest of the game, and (2) simply wear out the officials and make them tired of blowing their whistles.
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So you're telling me he mind-f*cked the refs?
 

I haven't watched them much this year, but how many times last year did they hold onto the ball for 33 seconds and then have Taylor toss one up from 30 feet out. He made alot of them so I guess it worked.
 

50PoundHead said:
I don't watch as much as I used to. Do Ryan's team play the same tackle-football defense that Bennett's teams used to employ? I swear the Bennett's strategy was to have his guys absolutely hammer the opposition for the first ten minutes in an attempt to: (1) make simple fouls look ticky-tack by comparison for the rest of the game, and (2) simply wear out the officials and make them tired of blowing their whistles.
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Give me Bo Ryan anyday, anyday, over Dick Bennett. What he did to college basketball was an abomination. I can not get over the fact that those football players in baketball drag, kept Gene Keady from reaching what would have been his only Final Four. The Skunks made the dance with Mark Vershaw - Mark freakin' Verhsaw - as a starter.

I think they scored <20 points in the Final Four semi in the 1st half, and barely broke 40 for the game. Sorry - going off memory; if I'm way off - I'm way off . . .

The ultimate "dumbing down" of what could be - and is - a beautiful game.

Also . . . Queue Tony Bennett for when Bo (What-do-you-mean-my-guy-committed-a-foul) Ryan steps aside.
 


MadtownGopher said:
I would never trade Tubby for Bo, if for no other reason then I wouldn't enjoy watching Gopher games as much as I do right now. Bo's teams are never true contenders come tournament time, so far Tubby hasn't shown an ability to contend at Minnesota either. So I'd just assume take the coach that implements a more up tempo and fun to watch system. .
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Tubby's up-temp teams have averaged 68, 66, 73, 69, and 71 points. Bo's offenses 67, 64, 67, 68, and 67. So it is 1,2,6,1,and 4 points more per game. So a couple years there were decent sized differences but 3 of the 5 years scoring was almost the same. I am not saying the Badgers are up-tempo but dont overstate how up-tempo and exciting the Gophers offense is.
 

jjfanec said:
Tubby's up-temp teams have averaged 68, 66, 73, 69, and 71 points. Bo's offenses 67, 64, 67, 68, and 67. So it is 1,2,6,1,and 4 points more per game. So a couple years there were decent sized differences but 3 of the 5 years scoring was almost the same. I am not saying the Badgers are up-tempo but dont overstate how up-tempo and exciting the Gophers offense is.
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I don't really agree that Wisconsin basketball is boring, but Wisconsin is 345th out of 345 teams in possessions per game for the second year in a row. They just happen to be the 27th most efficient offensive team in the country.

Minnesota is not uptempo either, they have the second lowest pace in the conference.
 

Gold Vision said:
I don't really agree that Wisconsin basketball is boring, but Wisconsin is 345th out of 345 teams in possessions per game for the second year in a row. They just happen to be the 27th most efficient offensive team in the country.

Minnesota is not uptempo either, they have the second lowest pace in the conference.
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I will never say Wisconsin is remotely up-tempo. There are two reasons why they are always near the bottom of the poss per game. 1. They eat up a lot of the clock on offense. 2. They play excellent defense and as a result there are very few fast breaks or shots by the opposing team early in the shot clock

Neither Wisconsin nor Minnesota is up-tempo I just dont like it when Gopher fans act like Wisconsin is like watching paint dry when Minnesota puts up similar points per game and possessions.
 

The-Grinch.jpg
 

jjfanec said:
I will never say Wisconsin is remotely up-tempo. There are two reasons why they are always near the bottom of the poss per game. 1. They eat up a lot of the clock on offense. 2. They play excellent defense and as a result there are very few fast breaks or shots by the opposing team early in the shot clock

Neither Wisconsin nor Minnesota is up-tempo I just dont like it when Gopher fans act like Wisconsin is like watching paint dry when Minnesota puts up similar points per game and possessions.
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They don't put up similar possessions.
 

Gold Vision said:
They don't put up similar possessions.
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Sorry that was an incorrect statement. Where does Minnesota rank in possession per game? I know where the Badgers rank. When I watch Minnesota I see a team that tries to push the ball more than the Badgers but not a ton. Minnesota seems like they would get more possessions because they get a decent amount of turnovers although that could be completely wrong
 

I'll take Tubby all the time. His teams ability to press and run when they need to make him more dangerous than most Badger teams. The best example was the game in Wisconsin in 2009, when the gophers came back late after applying a press and went on to win in overtime.
 

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